Free Republic

One of the most important under-the-radar issues in the 2024 election could be the practice of Chinese nationals and companies buying up vast swaths of American land. In recent months, a number of states, mostly led by conservatives, have taken action to halt the practice of Chinese entities buying large tracts of farmland, ranchland, and timber claims. However, without strong federal action, which President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats have been unwilling to pursue, the practice could continue to imperil America’s physical and economic security. Last June, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress did vote for...

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) are defying the combined urging of green lobbyists and government diktat with just a quarter making up new purchases for 2023, UK data reveals. The consumer rejection of EVs is a challenge to the electric car market and government goals to move towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

It’s been a tough few years for car buyers. Pandemic-related chip shortages sent car prices soaring. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 only made things worse.However, the dust may be settling on car prices -- especially used car prices.According to CarGurus, the average used car price has been on a downward trend since last summer. As of 2 January 2024, it’s $28,247.While that may sound high, it’s nearly $20,000 lower than the average new car price, which is over $48,000, according to Consumer Reports.The truth is that buying a used car is almost always cheaper than buying a new one...

A 10-day waiting period for all gun purchases in Washington state went into effect January 1, 2024. FOX 13 reported the 10-day waiting period was part of 2023’s House Bill 1143. The new law also “requires people to go through training before they can buy a gun,” Apple Valley News Now noted.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are pushing legislation to require background checks for ammunition purchases. They are joined by other Democrats, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). The Democrats are pushing the Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight Act, or AMMO Act for short. In addition to requiring background checks for ammo purchases, Redstate noted the Act would also limit the number of rounds law-abiding citizens can buy over a five-day period and mandate that ammo dealers get a license separate from the Federal Firearms License (FFL) required for gun sales.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is calling for Congress to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in an effort to prohibit the purchases of junk food with federal benefits. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Tuesday, the senator cited U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data that 20 percent of the program’s spending goes toward unhealthy foods and drinks. HOUSE Rubio calls for Congress to bar SNAP purchases of soda, junk foods BY OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN - 05/09/23 10:43 AM ET SHARE TWEET Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Greg Nash Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) arrives for an all-Senators briefing on Wednesday, April...

You walk into a grocery store and pick up eggs. No smartphone? No problem. You swipe your hand across a reader, and the amount is deducted from your bank account. If that sounds far-fetched, you obviously haven’t been to Sweden recently, where thousands of people have reportedly had chips implanted in their bodies. A company called Biohax has already “installed” around 4,000 chips in customers, inserted just below the thumb. They can use the implant to open secure doors, pay for tickets, and share emergency information with medical personnel. The chip is about the size of a Tylenol pill, and...

I have had a long-time list of weapons to be purchased, basically for household of 6. I have 3 AR15's, 3 AK47's, 1 Glock 17, 1 Mossberg 500, 1 Hipoint 9mm carbine, 1 Keltec Sub2000 9mm carbine, a FNS SCAR-17(.308), a DPMS LR-308, and a Ruger 10/22 Takedown(22LR). This is considering the possibility of a Hillary victory in November and a potential gun ban...

According to one estimate, since 2012 the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. DHS also reportedly purchased 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) to go with their bullet stockpile. ATK is one company that won a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide 450 million rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in 2012. TSA, an agency within the DHS, purchased 3.5 million rounds of .357 SIG caliber training ammunition in September. Recently TSA purchased 1,386 pounds of dynamite to go with their ammo. The Activist Post reported: Put...

Remember when housing was the primary aspirational asset for a still existent US middle class, to be purchased with some equity down by your average 30 year-old hoping to start a family in his or her brand new home, and, as the name implies, aspire to reach the American dream? Those days are long gone. Back in those days the interest rate on the 10 Year bond mattered as it determined the prevailing marginal affordability of leveraged real estate. That is no longer the case, at least not for about 90% of Americans, because as Goldman shows, while before the...

Last Thursday, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who chairs one of the House oversight subcommittees, held a hearing to find out why the Department of Homeland Security has been ordering so much ammunition. "It is entirely ... inexplicable why the Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition," Chaffetz said at the hearing. He revealed that the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116 million that same year -- among roughly 70,000 agents. Comparing that with the small-arms purchases procured by the U.S....

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security denied Thursday that its large-scale ammunition purchases were an effort keep bullets out of the hands of private citizens. At a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, top DHS training officer Humberto Medina said he could "say categorically that was not a factor at all" in the purchases. He also noted that ammunition DHS purchased would be used for both operations and training purchases. The Associated Press reported in February that DHS was planning to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds over the next five years, a number that sparked fears of government stockpiling...

The New York Fed, the branch of the Federal Reserve System that implements monetary policy, asked about expectations for the size of the program and the time over which it would be completed, according to a survey obtained by Bloomberg News.

Expansion of reconnaissance and air surveillance and with King Air aircraft. and there have been a contract with helicopter to support the aerial support. There are 24 aircraft from Bell 407, 24 aircraft from Eurocopter 635, and 24 support aircraft AT-6B and 36 jet fighters of 516. ------------- In regards to 200-...Air Force, the first aircraft we will receive in 2011 until 2015. And that depends on the support and the help that the coalition forces can secure to Iraq so we can be able to maintain and defend our airspace and territories.

You might not know it, but as of January it became illegal in California for companies to require workers to have devices implanted under their skin that would reveal their whereabouts at all times. State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) called his legislation a safeguard against "the ultimate invasion of privacy." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law in October. But your privacy may not be completely safe. The same chip-based technology that California won't allow to be forcibly placed under people's skin will soon be ubiquitous in cellphones, which the telecom industry believes will be increasingly used as...

HUACHUCA CITY — Unusually large purchases of cellular phones at a Huachuca City store on April 21 and a Tucson area store last weekend may be part of the growing trend in the United States. The Arizona Counter-Terrorism Information Center on Tuesday issued a statement that said recent information shows a possible increase in suspicious pre-paid cell phone purchases nationwide. “There has been speculation in the national and international media of cell phones being used to detonate explosives by members of terrorist, extremist and separatist groups around the world,” the agency said in its statement. “It is also possible for...

Tucson Police are trying to track down two men of Middle Eastern descent who, reportedly, bought a number of cell phones within a 36-hour period over the weekend at a Tucson Sam's Club. The incident comes on the heels of other similar incidents across the country. The incidents have prompted terror investigations because, authorities say, those cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators. Tucson Police issued a news Release Tuesday afternoon regarding the incident that occurred three days ago. Tucson Police were called to Tucson's Sam's Club on Friday just before noon on a 'suspicious activity" call. Apparently,...

Schools want regional accreditation. Fopros also want regional accreditation. It gives them status, recognition, and confidence with their students, who might want to take their class units and transfer them to a four-year or other institution. Fopros will go to extremes to get this accreditation. In order to get accreditation, schools must meet a number of standards - course offerings, financial stability, library facilities, and a certain quota of full-time faculty to name a few. Nowhere does it say the schools must actually be carrying out their objective of student learning - interesting, eh? There is also a waiting period,...

<p>SACRAMENTO – The state's inventory controls were thrown into disarray over the past three decades because state agencies petitioned the Legislature and were granted permission to buy tracts of land and fleets of cars with no outside oversight.</p> <p>The Department of General Services was the original "control agency," state officials said, but the approval process for purchasing equipment and property dragged and made state government inefficient. Soon, agencies and departments were lining up before the Legislature, asking to be freed from the stranglehold.</p>

<p>ALBANY, N.Y. -- Remember all those gifts you bought online during the holidays? Now it's time to pay sales tax on them, at least so say the income tax forms of 20 states, including Maine.</p> <p>The latest to outstretch that revenue-seeking hand are New York and California, which this year added a line requiring taxpayers to declare any tax they owe on out-of-state purchases.</p>